Blazing Dreams: The Eternal Night
by Duncan McNeil
Summary: The Eternal Night has descended upon the world. Nowhere is safe. Years after being locked away in the Middle Life, Duncan McNeil is finally free. What he finds once he returns, however, is far from what he imagined...


Welcome to Blazing Dreams. This series has been my baby for close to the past three years now, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. This is the third and last part of the series, but no worries. Current plans put it close to forty chapters, and many are already completed. The first two sagas...unfortunately they really weren't up to the quality of this, so I won't be posting them for now. However, don't let that put you off. I've inserted as much backstory as possible without making this entirely boring, and believe me you're much better off not having to trudge through the other stuff anyway.

Be warned, however, this is rated T for language and violence, both of which can be moderate. Not really enough to put many people off, but something to keep in mind.

I'm notorious for taking a long time to write chapters, so bear with me if it's been a month or so. I haven't forgotten. Anyway, enough of this. Enjoy the prologue, and please excuse the...well, lack of good quality in it. It gets better, don't worry.

* * *

blazing dreams: the eternal night

prologue

A black shape, fluid and moving, drifted across a shadowy graveyard. The pitch black tombstones glinted as the shape drifted by. It continued across a unending field of gravestones, oblivious to the silent screaming of each one. It moved with purpose, feeling but not seeing.

A figure broke the monotony of death. It, too, was without defined form. It stood before a tombstone, shivering as the cold waves of death rolled over it.

Slowly, agonizingly, the figure looked up. It was shaped as though human, yet was billowing lightly as though a piece of cloth in the wind.

The figure suddenly cried out in agony, collapsing onto the ground of the graveyard. The shape seemed to grow, feeding on the despair of the figure.

The tombstone lit up in a bright, white light beside the tortured figure. Letters burned onto it, one by one.

The figure looked up and let out another cry of agony.

The shape, still hovering without form, reached out to the tortured figure.

"Time has come."

The voice came, not from the shape, but from the graveyard itself.

"Time has come."

The figure slowly looked up, gaining clarity. "The...time?"

"Time has come."

The figure started shining, and it became clear and enshrouded by death.

"The time..." it said quietly. It was, indeed, a human. His untidy brown hair hovered around his head, and his eyes opened for the first time in fifty years. His mouth opened slowly, as if for the first time.

"The time," he said slowly. "Has come."

With a bright flash of light, the figure lost all hints of the dark shroud and disappeared from the graveyard.

* * *

"Life...is good, wouldn't you say?"

"Of course."

"Ah...how could one not become enamoured of such...a lifestyle?"

"It is beyond me."

A tall man smiled, stroking his chin with a long, pale finger. The two men were standing in near total darkness, with nothing more than a guttering candle to give off a fleck of light.

"Yes it is," said the man, a hint of humor in his silky voice. "You will never understand how one could live like I do. Do not lie."

"I would not choose your life, no."

The tall man chuckled softly, not moving his gaze from his pale hand. "It is a matter of taste, I suppose. I have always preferred darkness to light. You...are different."

"I am. Now...tell me what you know and let us be gone."

"Now now," said the man, laughing softly. "Why are you always in such a rush? Our Lord is not expecting us for another hour."

"I do not like to waste time. Tell me your information."

The man sighed. "Very well. The Council is now aware of the weakening barrier, just like you wanted. I'm curious to know why you asked me to do such a thing...I have half a mind to tell our Lord..."

"You will do no such thing, Dusek, as you and I both know. So, they have been informed?"

"Yes. I am sure they will be able to make the barrier last longer, but it will be a quick fix. The barrier will fall shortly, and the Eternal Night will spread through their pathetic little country." said the man quietly.

"You did as I asked, with no snags?"

The man sighed. "Yes, there were no snags. I really do hope you had a good reason for making me do what I did. Our Lord will not take well to your treachery..."

"It is none of your concern. I shall see you later, I expect..."

"Be wary. Our Lord had to release Duncan today, so he shall be most displeased..."

"What?"

The man laughed. "Surely you already knew?"

The guttering candle went out, and the noise of a door opening and closing filled the mans' ears. He chuckled to himself. "He really does think he's making a difference, doesn't he? The Eternal Night is here to stay, and there's nothing he can do about it."

Laughing, the man walked forward and left the room as well.


End file.
